New Zealander marines, rifles slung, train with their backup weapons. A handgun is not the weapon of choice for a combat situation, but it does provide the means for emergency self-defence if a situation goes bad.
Introduction
Weapons of any kind can be defined as ‘tools used to break things and hurt people’, but this does not make them intrinsically good or bad. It is the purpose to which a weapon is put that matters, not its inherent capability. A weapon may serve as a badge of office and never be drawn in anger, or it can be a deterrent to aggression or used to defend the lives of innocents. It can, of course, also be used for violence and mayhem.
Certain weapons have acquired a reputation over the years, sometimes by association with law enforcement or military personnel, sometimes due to popularity with criminals. Some weapons have been given an artificial reputation by their portrayal in video games, movies and television shows, or are considered to be somehow ‘good’ or ‘bad’ depending on their use by one side or another in a war. Not all of these associations are fair, and not all elements of a weapon’s reputation are accurate. Some have become classics or notoriously iconic without really deserving it, while others have somehow evaded the recognition they rightly deserve.
To the user, whose life might depend on a weapon’s ability to stop an assailant, characteristics like accuracy, controllability and wounding power are critically important, but the collector might have a wholly different set of criteria for determining which weapons are interesting and which are not. Combat capability is one factor, of course, but physical beauty, perfection of design or an interesting feature not found on similar weapons might all be equally important.
Users and Collectors
The collector might also rate a given weapon highly due to its historical importance. The first use of a now-standard feature, innovative design or incorporation of new materials and association with historical personalities or events can all spark the interest of the collector or historian. A weapon that offers fairly lousy combat performance, is inaccurate, kicks too hard and is virtually impossible to reload quickly might still be a favourite with the collector, whereas the practical user would probably arm himself with something more effective if given the chance.
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